1 Peter 1:23-2:3 – …you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.” And this word is the good news that was preached to you. So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.
When our kids were little, I quickly learned that I had no clue about what to feed a baby. Thankfully, my wife Grace was very wise regarding what foods to introduce into their diet at what ages so they could grow healthy without triggering digestive problems with allergies. What is true of the body of a child, is also true of the soul of a child of God. The only way anyone can be healthy is if their body and soul are fed nutritious food, and junk food and poison is avoided.
Peter gives us a list of five things to keep out of our diet or we will poison our soul:
- Malice: Ill will that compels us to cause hurt or harm to another. We know we have malice when we are happy because they are hurting and hurting because they are happy.
- Deceit: Not saying what is totally true, practicing deception, dishonesty, skewing the facts, all driven by the ulterior motive of causing harm.
- Hypocrisy: Pretending to care, agree, or be safe and trustworthy when we are not in an effort to benefit ourselves at their expense.
- Envy: Jealousy and coveting which is the opposite of contentment and only made worse in the age of social media.
- Slander: Satan name means “slander” and when we are trying to make ourselves look good by making them look bad, we are doing something demonic.
To download the free e-book ODD LIFE: Good God which is a study in 1 Peter for individuals, groups, and families from Pastor Mark click HERE. To listen to Pastor Mark’s 9 sermons on 1 Peter preached in the summer of 2020, click HERE. These and other resources are made possible by our ministry partners who support Real Faith as a Bible teaching ministry of Mark Driscoll Ministries to whom we say THANK YOU!